


Free And Easy

by ThatDamnKennedyKid



Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Adorable Connor, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Autism Spectrum, Bisexual Male Character, Demisexuality, Fluff, Getting Together, M/M, Neurological Disorders, Young Hank Anderson
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-06
Updated: 2019-03-06
Packaged: 2019-10-23 08:18:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,892
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17679794
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThatDamnKennedyKid/pseuds/ThatDamnKennedyKid
Summary: Connor didn't think love was in the cards for him. He knew his shortcomings, what left him out of normal society and made him hard to like, let alone love.Enter Hank Anderson.





	Free And Easy

(Not going to lie, inspired mostly by these pictures.)

* * *

He met Hank rather anticlimatically, in retrospect. 

He'd been nineteen and sitting at the edge of a lake. His family had taken a vacation and gone camping to some park. His older step-brother, Markus, enjoyed this kind of thing way more. He'd probably been the deciding factor, considering Connor didn't really like to go places. But Markus was also being considerate - huge places packed with people, while fun, made him nervous and uncomfortable. At least this way, he might find more pebbles for his collection or see new birds. And the park had a lake, which was nice. Connor liked watching the water. 

The nice quiet of this little-wandered path was interrupted by the yelling of some noisy twenty-somethings rampaging through the forest. Not uncommon, it being the middle of summer, but annoying regardless. 

"Elijah! Get your fucking cousin before he does something stupid."

"Don't tell me what to do you phckin' prick!"

"Gavin, honestly-"

One of the three voices barrelled out of the woods and tripped on a root as he went to yell back again, stumbled into Connor, then fell ass-over-teacups over the embankment and into the lake. 

"Shit." The most reasonable voice, a man of similar age to the first, came jogging out, much more sure-footed, and stopped at the cusp of the water. "Idiot."

"Shut up and phckin' help me." The first man hissed. 

The last man followed leisurely, looking somewhat smug. "See? You goddamn moron. And look, you soaked a stranger."

"Suck his dick for me, then, Hank." Number one spat.

Three, or Hank, looked over at him, then smirked a little. "Sure."

Number two rolled his eyes. "C'mon, leave the kid alone. He looks barely of age."

"Take Gavin back to your cabin."

Two, presumably then, Elijah, sighed then did as he was told. Gavin, the wet one, yelled and cussed the whole way beyond earshot. 

"Sorry about him." Hank said, sitting down next to him and offering the towel from around his neck. "Gavin's an asshole."

"It's okay." He took the towel and dried off where he'd been splashed, luckily mostly on his shirt. it would have been embarrassing on his shorts. 

"I'm Hank."

"Connor." He passed the towel back. Hank slung it around his neck again, looking entirely too relaxed. 

"Whatcha out here for?"

"Camping?"

Hank chuckled, deep and bass and throaty. "Nah, I meant out in the woods alone."

"Oh. I like my space and my brother has friends with us. What about you?"

"Out here with some family friends." Hank shrugged. 

"Nice." He cleared his throat. "It's okay, you know. You don't have to stay with me."

"And miss getting to make friends with a handsome stranger?" Hank grinned, roguish and charming - wild, almost. "I'd like to get to know you better. Unless you really want me gone, in which case I'll go."

"You can stay." He said before he could think about it. "I'm just not much of a conversationalist."

"That's alright. I'm not one for silence-filling anyway." Hank laid back in the dirt, hands behind his head. "How long are ya here for?"

"Three weeks total." He picked up a leaf to examine it. "We've been here three days."

"What are the odds? Us too." Hank laughed. "Well, with any luck, that means we'll get to see each other if we hit it off."

"And if we don't?"

"We go home in three weeks none the worse for wear." Hank smiled placidly. "But I'm not worried about it."

As it turned out, they were very compatible. Almost suspiciously so. Hank was easy-going and companionable, willing to do almost anything. He was swear-y and opinionated (Gavin had poked him about the politics and Hank went off), but generally live-and-let-live with everyone. Hank even met his parents. He'd not offered the same to Connor, but Connor thought it was because he knew Connor didn't want to. 

When their three weeks was up, Hank had to go first. He came over to say goodbye personally, sitting in Connor's end of the RV (Markus and his friends got their own). They were on his bed, sitting casually and talking about where they were going back to. 

"Ah, just got a text from El. They're pretty much packed up." Hank sighed. 

"Oh." Connor stuffed his hands between his legs, his nervous habit. "So I guess you have to go, then."

"Somethin' like that." Hank sat up, thigh to thigh with him instead of draped languidly across the small bed. And it wasn't as if Hank was a small man. 

"Goodbye?"

Hank chuckled, one hand tipping his head up so they were face to face. Slow enough to pull away on instinct but too quick for his courage to flee, Hank leaned in and pressed a gentle kiss to his lips. 

"This is for you." Hank rumbled, voice low and smooth. 

"A kiss?"

Hank chuckled, pressing a little bundle of marble fragments into his hands. "That too."

"Oh, Hank."

"A parting gift." The older man winked and stood. 

The little tag that held the bag closed had Hank's phone number on it. Hank, however, was already on his way out. 

Connor followed him, catching him at the bottom of the RV's stairs, and grabbing his elbow. Hank paused and turned back to him, so he acted as impulsively as possible. 

He leaned up and kissed Hank again, sweet and short but enough to leave him breathless. 

"You play a dangerous game, sweetheart." Hank's eyes were darker, but that didn't make it weird. 

"Good luck." He blurted, then flushed. "The kiss is for . . . good luck."

"I was already lucky once day, then you kissed me again." Hank grinned. "Keep in touch?"

"Yeah. I will."

"Good." Hank looked like the thought to kiss him again flashed through his hand, but he only turned with one last salute and began the walk to Elijah's RV.

* * *

He texted Hank not two days later. They stayed in touch the rest of the summer. It turned out they were going to the same school in September, which left Connor more giddy than he'd anticipated. 

"You seem to like him." Markus said, sitting down on his bed one night while he texted Hank. 

"I do." He admitted, almost sighing to himself in affection. 

Markus, while not being related, had been his brother since he was six. His mother had passed away from breast cancer two years before his father met Connor's mother (who's father had left shortly after finding out she was pregnant). He'd been thirteen at the time, but he'd taken to the younger boy rather quickly and looked out for him all the time. Markus himself was working as an EA and had no issue adapting to Connor's needs or understanding them. 

"Have you told him yet?"

"Told him?"

"About your autism."

"No." He looked back to his phone, sweet mood soured. 

"You should."

He felt himself grow agitated. "Why? Why do I have to tell him and not have one friend who doesn't feel bad for me?"

Markus remained steadfast. "You have a light and sound sensitivity. A daily routine you grow irritable and distraught without. You're going to university. This matters for him to know."

His phone pinged. 

_Oh! We're in the same dorm, then! That's awesome. I'll get to see you more often than I hoped. Have you ever been down to California or was it a snap decision?_

Hank, big, soft and sweet. 

Markus laid a hand on his shoulder. "I'm just saying, he might want to go to parties or clubs and you know as well as I do that you can't handle that kind of environment for long. I'm not saying you have to tell him immediately, but eventually."

_I think I would like that. I wanted to go somewhere sunny. Thought it would be good for me to study in._

Markus sighed. "I'm not trying to hurt you, Connor."

"I know." He admitted quietly. "But it's so nice, having him not know. I'm not a burden or a dampener. I'm just . . . Connor Arkay. Not 'the autistic kid'."

Markus softened. "Then, for my sake, can you mention your sensitivities?"

"Okay."

Markus leaned over and kissed his head. "I can't help it. My kid brother's moving across the country. I'm bound to be worried."

"Thanks. I'll be okay."

"I know."

Markus hesitated at his door, but he was back to texting Hank. 

* * *

It turned out Hank had to fly out of the same airport he did, so they'd booked their flights, seats and rental car together. It would be nice to have someone he knew there. 

Markus drove him, since he had a pickup truck for his suitcases, and was the one to hug and kiss him goodbye before he boarded the plane. When Markus turned and left with only a backward wave, he spotted Hank watching him from across the terminal. 

He was just leaning on the wall, his bags already checked and his ticket in hand, but he was staring intently. And boy, was he breathtaking. Connor had been sure the three weeks vacation had let him hallucinate how beautiful Hank was, but he knew now that wasn't true. 

Hank was tall, 6' 4" at least, with a musculature that leaned toward bulky, and a square face with strong features. He was dressed in relaxed jeans, we'll worn and loved, with a faded out black shirt and a dark brown leather jacket and black boots. Atop it all, though, was his mess of strawberry blonde curls - nearly ringlets, but a touch too loose - and piercing blue eyes. 

Connor moved over to him, resisting the urge to squeeze his hands together, almost in a daze. He swallowed, stopping a scant foot away. "Hi."

"Hey." Hank smiled at him. "I thought you were bussing in alone."

"I was, but Markus insisted he drive me."

"Boyfriend?"

"Ack, no." He made a face. "Markus is my step-brother. I've known him since I was four."

Hank nodded, not looking as though the information affected him at all. "That's sweet of him."

"I thought so."

"C'mon. The gate's this way."

He followed Hank easily, but peered up at the older man as they passed security. "You're not jealous, are you?"

"Nah." Hank grinned at him. "Just wouldn't be the first time I saw a sweet thing get accosted in an airport."

His heart stuttered in his chest. "Sweet thing?"

"Well, yeah. Gotta be blind not to give you a second glance. Everywhere you walk you're leaving a trail of admirerers."

"Well, they all vanish once they get to know me."

"I'm still here and fuckin' blessed to be." Hank winked, taking a seat near the gate. 

He tried to repress the blush, but wasn't very successful. He sat down next to Hank, who slouched a bit and stretched out his shoulders. "You still might change your mind. I'm a little different."

"Oh yeah? Like what?" 

"I need to be regimented in my daily life. I'm light and sound sensitive. I have a specific way I need to operate."

Hank raised an eyebrow. "So, what, autism?"

He swallowed and looked away. 

"Whatever." Hank adjusted himself, crossing his legs. "So no huge parties and a bedtime. Not really an issue."

He blinked, swallowed, and repressed his tears. All this anxiety about losing his only friend as he moved cross-country for nothing. Markus' warning and caution, wasted on Hank. 

"You're not upset?"

"Connor." He sat up and made a face. "What the hell is there to be upset about? You're you. Everybody lives their lives as they want to. It wouldn't have changed my mind about you even if you hadn't told me."

He was less successful keeping the tears to himself this time. Not fast enough to hide it from Hank either. 

"Are you crying?" Hank leaned over, getting a better look at his face. His strawberry blonde curls framed his face and those intense blue eyes. He softened, reaching over and pulling him into a hug. "There's nothing to be worried about, sweetheart."

Connor wound up falling asleep against Hank's chest, both in the airport and on the plane. Hank just let him, putting up the arm rests on the plane so he could do so more comfortably. 

* * *

True to his word, Hank didn't change at all once they were in California. If anything, Hank became the most stable feature of his life. 

Connor didn't have a roommate, but Hank had Elijah and Gavin with him. The cousins annoyed the hell out of him, so he spent much of his time hanging out in Connor's neighbouring room. He was largely quiet and unobtrusive, working on projects or playing on his phone without incident. 

The first party he went to, Hank invited him to. It was little more than a huge fire in a meadow in northern California. Apparently, the land was owned by a friend of Hank's, Jeffery Fowler. They came in Elijah's pickup truck (the man came from money and had a vehicle for every occasion, including a backwoods cookout, apparently) and once they were off the highway, Hank insisted he get in the bed of the truck with him. He was terrified until Hank pulled him onto his lap, then the rush of wind was just refreshing. 

"If you want him in your lap, just put him there." Gavin groused, but Hank, windblown and stunning, just pushed him into a tree. 

Gavin bitched to Elijah as they helped Jeffery prep the pulled pork, but he hung back with Hank, who'd supplied the booze. 

He sat down next to the blonde, who handed him a can of iced tea. 

"If I didn't know better, I'd think you guys hate each other." He commented, taking in Hank's firelit face as subtly as possible. 

"Nah, Gavin's an asshole, but I love him." Hank sipped at his own vodka concoction. "My mom knew Elijah's from high school. Grew up together, but Karaline married Jacob Kamski and his money and my dad was a steel worker. Died of a heart attack young, then my mom got cancer. Took her fast. Karaline took me in, grew up like Elijah's older brother. Gavin lived in the guest house with his family, so we were thick as thieves."

"Did they send you out here?"

"Nah. Scholarship. I was working security for Kamski's business before I got this. Karaline wouldn't hear of room and board payment, but it didn't feel right just lettin' 'em do everything for me."

"I'm sorry. About your mom."

"It's fine. She's been gone a while." Hank smiled and bumped his shoulder. 

"Still." He laid his head on Hank's shoulder. "I don't know who my dad was. And Markus' mom was a diabetic who wasn't supposed to have kids. I don't really remember having a family other than the one I've got."

Hank took his hand. 

"Hey, Tina and David are here!"

Tina Chen and David Allen were upper years who'd become fond of Gavin, the way people become enamoured with asshole cats. Tina had salad, David had more booze and Elijah helped them set up speakers. 

Most of the night was dominated by laughter, good food and drunken attempts at dancing and flirting. Hank remained relatively sober, poking at Gavin, talking with Jeffery, friend-flirting with Tina and whispering jokes to Connor. 

Connor, for his part, felt warm and content tucked into Hank's side and was gratified that aside from a lurid wink from Tina, there'd been no mention of his proximity. 

In the early hours of the morning, when they were all winding down, Hank pulled him to his feet, tugging him over to the tailgate of Elijah's truck. 

"I'm really glad you came." Hank admitted softly, leaning into him. He was between Hank's bulk and the dropped tailgate, hands braced behind him, holding him up or pushing him forward he didn't know. 

"So am I." His gaze flickered down to Hank's mouth. The blonde apparent caught it, smiling gently and sweetly. 

"I don't know what's too soon for you." Hank cupped his jaw, thumbing over his bottom lip. His breath stuttered in his chest and he couldn't help but lean into it, his eyes fluttering. "But I really like you, Connor."

"I like you too, Hank." He replied, breathless. 

Hank's smile was bright enough to overpower the fire. "I want to kiss you, Connor."

"I want you to kiss me." He tilted his head back, staring up at Hank feeling like he was going to melt. "I want you to kiss me like I've never wanted anyone else."

Hank continued to stare at him, stroking his cheek and neck tenderly. "I want to be your boyfriend, too."

His chest felt like he'd been punched in the best way, tight and anticipatory and overwhelmed with affection. "I don't know how, but I want to be your boyfriend too."

"I'll show you." Hank promised, leaning down and brushing their noses together. 

* * *

Hank kissed him for the first time in his room, cuddled together, watching Netflix.

Connor almost shoved his laptop off his bed in his haste to turn around. They spent a good fifteen minutes giggling once Hank caught it. After his laptop was safe, they kissed and kissed and kissed. 

"I love you." Hank whispered between kisses. 

"I love you too." Connor beamed back. 

 


End file.
